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Dood, I'm back! As for why I haven't posted here in nearly a week, let's just say a certain SRPG has been consuming my free time. But I did go on a writing spree yesterday, so there'll be a nice pack of stories this week.

Anyhow, as I've said before, I kinda like Sunflora, even if I've never gotten to use it. And the shiny Sunflora is so pretty.

SUNKERN
Emerald entry: Sunkern try to minimize movement to conserve the nutrients they have stored in their bodies for evolution. They will not eat, subsisting only on morning dew.

SUNFLORA
Fire Red entry: In the daytime, it rushes about in a hectic manner, but it comes to a complete stop when the sun sets.

One of the most famous vehicles in the world was speeding over the ocean, headed towards Sinnoh. Not a boat, though. This was a Magnezone flying train, with six of the super-powered magnetic Pokemon levitating the twenty-four cars and a seventh running the forward engine that propelled the whole train along. Its bright yellow, red, and green motif was unmistakable. Children all over the world anticipated the coming of this train, the Sunflora Carnival Train.

It has started generations ago as a small family of entertainers, both human and Pokemon, who traveled from town to town with their tricks and treats. It was still a family-owned group, although now that family had grown massively and the carnival went from region to region. And its most beloved members were still the Sunfloras.

Indeed, the four largest cars belonged solely to the cheery yellow flowers and their caretakers. The cars had curved glass roofs so they got plenty of sunlight. There were shallow pools of water for them to drink or splash in. And up on a shelf in one of the cars, the young Sunkerns were given a permanent residence. The little shelf had a soundproof barrier to let them have quiet. Their caretaker checked in on them constantly to make sure they were resting in ideal conditions. They did not do much, but given the full life ahead of them, this was the perfect start.

The Sunkern seeds didn’t think of much, beyond simple things like how sunny it was and if there was possible danger; not that the latter would ever be a concern to the Carnival Pokemon, but it was an instinctive worry. So when one thought, ‘I’m ready,’ it was a drastic change of routine.

He opened his eyes and peered around. The other Sunkern were resting, not stirring to his movements. The little shelf box had been just right, but now seemed too small. After locating an exit hole, he hopped over and jumped through. It was an unexpectedly long drop to the floor; he fluttered his small leaves to slow his descent.

As soon as he got down, he caught the attention of some of the Sunfloras. He caught even more attention as a green light enveloped him. The concentrated nutrients in his body went into hyper activity as he burst out to become two feet tall with a broad yellow flower for a face. Once the green light faded, he waved his arm leaves experimentally and called, “Sunflora!”

“Sunflora! Sunflora!” a clamor of voices responded as every Pokemon in the car came around to see their new peer.

Oddly enough, he was different from the rest. Poets had often alluded to Sunflora as being like spring, of bright new greens and yellows, of fresh flowers opening their petals to a world being renewed. But he was more like autumn, of bronze and golden yellows, of a last burst of color before the white of winter. This caused a great deal of interest from the others, even tinges of jealousy from some. But it caused him confusion, as his first thoughts wondered if he had done something wrong in his evolution. How would he change this look, though?

The four caretakers in the car stopped their card game to see what all the fuss was about. “Oh wow, is that a shiny one?” the youngest said. “I hadn’t noticed he was like that before.”

“It’s harder to tell with the Sunkerns,” the oldest one said. “But we now have a shiny again.”

“Sunflora?” he asked anxiously, tilting his petals inward. Was it a good or bad thing to be shiny?

One of the women caretakers picked him up. “We still need to mark you. No, no hassling him,” she directed the last to some of the older Sunfloras who tried to follow them into a small room in back of the train car.

It was a healing corner, with a machine to cure any who got hurt and a cabinet of supplies for any who got sick. The caretaker brought out a blue bag that she placed on his top petal. It was cold with ice, so he shivered. “Sa?”

“I need to pierce you with an ID ring; this’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt. We do this to all of our Pokemon, partly so we can tell you all apart easily and partly so we can keep track of you. Although, anybody would be able to pick you out without trouble.”

A primal part of his mind interpreted this to also mean that predators could pick him out easily. “Sunflora...” he mumbled, drawing his petals in again.

She scratched his neck in a way that felt nice. “Nervous little guy, huh? I don’t blame you. We all perform for the crowds. Soon, you’ll be learning how to sing, dance, do tricks, and make people laugh. But you’ll be under extra pressure, because you start off special.”

He opened his petals back some. It sounded fun; after weeks of sitting around preparing, he had a tremendous amount of energy. The only thing holding him back was nervousness, and knowing that he was special didn’t help that lessen.

“We’ll train you well and we won’t send you out to perform until you’re ready, so don’t worry about that. And if the others bother you, come to us. We understand what you want to say.”

“Sa?” Was that true?

“Most of the time, I’m certain. Okay, hold your petals still.”

She took out a piercing gun and attached the pin of the ID ring through the numb petal. Although the ring was as light as they could possibly make it, he still noticed the added weight. The caretaker then brought out a hand mirror so he could see his ring. It had a black background with yellow five-petaled flowers.

“There you are. You’re now an official Carnival Sunflora, part of the family. We’ll figure out who gets to train you in a couple of days, but for now, you can play with the others.”

“Florr,” he replied, and followed her out the door. He was still nervous, but after a while, he found a couple of friends who showed him how to dance.

The female caretaker went back to the card table. “He doesn’t seem vain, so he shouldn’t be a royal pain like the last shiny.”

“That’s good,” the older man said. “She would fuss over anything and throw a tantrum to any excuse.”

“He is a little shy, though, and nervous. But we can work that out.”

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

That was cute, I've always liked owning a Sunflora when I had Silver. But it was difficult to get one. Sun Stones don't come very easily. Speaking of which, there wasn't a mention of a Sun Stone in here. I guess they evolve differently then, huh?

I'm awaiting the line-up this week ^^. I have plenty of time; it's Fall Break where I am.

It's a Sunflora Carnival, they probably have lots and lots of Sunfloras and not enough money to get that many Sun Stones. But that's a trade secret. And according to the 'dex entry there... how in the world would a Sunkern that hardly moves find a Sun Stone? One of those things where the evolution method doesn't make any sense. (But on the other hand, I find Feebas to Milotic very sensible, if only others did something similar.)

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

That was another good one =) good stuff Ysavvryl (I've finally learned how to spell it =p). That was yet another interesting situation for Pokemon to be in, and I agree with TheSequelReturns, the Magnezone-powered train was a nice touch.

I could have done some puns here, but I chose to use the Beatles instead. That's what I get for playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band while writing. Anyhow, Exeggcute is an odd one, and I think I made it even odder.

EXEGGCUTE
Fire Red entry: Even though it appears to be eggs of some sort, it was discovered to be a life-form more like plant seeds.

EXEGGUTOR
Fire Red entry: It is called "The Walking Tropical Rainforest." Each of the nuts has a face and a will of its own.

The life of a wild Exeggutor was rarely peaceful. Not because of predators, though. They rarely have peace because of themselves. The tall walking plant had a central intelligence, but it had separate individualities for the seeds it carried. It could carry up to six and, invariably, one of them annoyed the others.

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,” a strong voice sang out loudly. “I can try with a little help from my friends.”

“Will you shut your yap already?!” one of the other nuts on the Exeggutor shouted. “It’s way too early in the morning for your nonsense.”

“But the birds are signing too,” he protested.

“We’re not supposed to sing,” a third snapped. “And you’re annoying us by doing it all the time.”

“I love to sing!”

“You only know one song.”

“But it’s a great song.”

“Can’t you look your way to see if there’s a better spot to catch the sun?”

“I wanna sing.”

“Then maybe you should go off on your own.”

The music lover growled. “Fine, I will.” He snapped himself off the main body of the Exeggutor and fell to the ground. His outer yellow husk slipped off, revealing the pink oval form of an Exeggcute. Now his mind was entirely his own, and he could sing all he wanted.

The tall tree-like Pokemon lumbered away towards a sunny spot another nut had spotted. “Have a nice short life, loser!” one of them shouted, causing laughter among the others.

The single Exeggcute seed grumbled. “Hmph. Just you guys watch. I’ll find myself a posse of music lovers and we’ll stun everyone by becoming the first seed choir.”

He spent a moment figuring out how to move. There were several options open to him now: bouncing, rolling, sliding. But the best way, he found, was telekinetically lifting himself an inch off the ground and drifting where he wanted to go. It took a lot of mental effort. He managed and found a river bed where many Exeggcute clusters had gathered, to build or exchange members.

The first cluster he found had four seeds. “Hey, wanna join us?” the lead seed asked.

“You need a rhythm,” the singer advised. “I guess music can have funny sounds, but it must have rhythm.”

“Cool, you know rhythm?”

“I only know one song, but I know its rhythm.”

“Hey, I’m gonna go with him.”

“Suit yourself,” the lead seed said, then let the sound maker go.

After that cluster left, the singer asked, “Um, how do we connect? I just dropped off my tree.”

“It’s real easy, man,” the sound maker said. “Lead seed asks the new one if he or she wants to join, and the new one says yes. Then the psychic link is made. But, uh, mind being leader? I ain’t much for leading, see. I just make funny sounds.”

“Okay, so, you want to join my cluster?”

“Course, man.”

And like he said, a psychic link formed between them, linking their minds together like he had been as the seed of an Exeggutor. They exchanged thoughts for a while, then the singer sang his song to teach it to the sound maker. It took a few tries, but the latter came up with a string of beat noises to add to make the song sound better. Mostly along the lines of ‘da-dun-dun’

While they did so, an Exeggcute cluster of three came up to them. “Catchy tune,” one of them, all girls, said.

“Thanks,” the singer said. “Do you like music?”

“Yeah, we like to hang out by where the humans live,” one replied.

“They have music playing a lot over there, but you gotta be careful or you’ll get caught.”

“Where is that? I’d like to learn more than just my one song.”

“We could join you and then you’d know where,” the lead girl seed said. “Besides, I’m getting tired of leading, but they won’t step up to the responsibility.”

“But you’re all girls,” the sound maker protested. “We’re both guys.”

“That’s no problem.” There was a flicker of psychic power, and the cluster of three seeds had become male. “Will that do?”

“Freaky.”

“How’d you do that?” the singer asked in shock.

“You can change any time you want just by thinking so. We were just girls because we had a member who was very girly and wouldn’t have things any other way.”

“But my tree cluster was always male.”

“So was mine,” the sound maker added.

“That’s cause an Exeggutor becomes one gender and stays that gender. We’re just seeds, so we can switch as we like.”

“Then what decides the Exeggutor’s gender?”

“Majority, I think.”

“Maybe it’s the lead seed’s decision.”

The singer considered (and hoped that it was his choice, not majority). “You guys really like music? I’m gonna make us into an egg choir.”

“Sounds neat. We’ll try it, right?”

“Sure.”

“It’s something different,” the third, and shier, seed replied.

“All right then. Do you want to join my cluster?”

They all agreed and soon set off for the human town to learn how to be an egg choir.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,” a strong voice sang out loudly. “I can try with a little help from my friends.”

“Will you shut your yap already?!” one of the other nuts on the Exeggutor shouted. “It’s way too early in the morning for your nonsense.”

“But the birds are signing too,” he protested.

“We’re not supposed to sing,” a third snapped. “And you’re annoying us by doing it all the time.”

“I love to sing!”

“You only know one song.”

“But it’s a great song.”

“Can’t you look your way to see if there’s a better spot to catch the sun?”

“I wanna sing.”

“Then maybe you should go off on your own.”

The music lover growled. “Fine, I will.” He snapped himself off the main body of the Exeggutor and fell to the ground. His outer yellow husk slipped off, revealing the pink oval form of an Exeggcute. Now his mind was entirely his own, and he could sing all he wanted.

The tall tree-like Pokemon lumbered away towards a sunny spot another nut had spotted. “Have a nice short life, loser!” one of them shouted, causing laughter among the others.

I'm being reminded of the little Exeggutor picture I printed off, colored, and made a funny quote to it (it was my dad's favorite). But I got rid of the pictures, so I can't remember the little argument anymore.

But anyhoo, I've never seen an Exeggutor argue in the anime at all. I didn't think they were like that naturally. Liked the idea of argument, everyone hating the most "annoying" one. Poor guy. I'd totally join him (I love to sing as well ).

He spent a moment figuring out how to move. There were several options open to him now: bouncing, rolling, sliding. But the best way, he found, was telekinetically lifting himself an inch off the ground and drifting where he wanted to go. It took a lot of mental effort.

Floating eggs, err I mean seeds 8D!

The first cluster he found had four seeds. “Hey, wanna join us?” the lead seed asked.

After that cluster left, the singer asked, “Um, how do we connect? I just dropped off my tree.”

“It’s real easy, man,” the sound maker said. “Lead seed asks the new one if he or she wants to join, and the new one says yes. Then the psychic link is made. But, uh, mind being leader? I ain’t much for leading, see. I just make funny sounds.”

“Okay, so, you want to join my cluster?”

“Course, man.”

And like he said, a psychic link formed between them, linking their minds together like he had been as the seed of an Exeggutor. They exchanged thoughts for a while, then the singer sang his song to teach it to the sound maker. It took a few tries, but the latter came up with a string of beat noises to add to make the song sound better. Mostly along the lines of ‘da-dun-dun’

Ah, so THAT'S why they stick together. A chain of psychic energy! Clever!

“But you’re all girls,” the sound maker protested. “We’re both guys.”

“That’s no problem.” There was a flicker of psychic power, and the cluster of three seeds had become male. “Will that do?”

O_O ...Holy crap... this reminds me of the Azurill changing genders when it evolves. But that is just... *twitches*

Short but the idea was original. Indeed, you just made it odder and more complicated xD. Bet'cha your next one will be JUST as odd!

CHARMELEON
Leaf Green entry: When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the air temperature to unbearably high levels.

‘A campfire scene was supposed to be warm and cozy,’ the boy Trainer thought. ‘But this one stinks.’

It was probably the wood from his first fire, which had been lots of smoke and little fire. Only after the smelly smoke had saturated his clothes, his bag, his Pokemon, and himself had he recalled that he wasn’t supposed to use green wood to make a fire. Then it was another half-hour to gather more suitable wood, and another half to build this fire up.

And now he was trying to figure out if the soup sitting in a pot over the fire was actually cooking. Soup was supposed to be real easy to make. He could do it with no trouble back at home. It was causing all sorts of trouble now: nearly tipping over into the fire, the pot getting too hot to touch, the rack maybe being too high, the smokey smell starting to invade his supper. Everything was more complicated than it had been at home.

Home. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was getting homesick. The start of his journey had been exciting. Getting into battles, seeing new places, earning his badges, all great fun. Especially the battle tourney a couple of weeks back where he and his two Pokemon had earned a Thunder Stone to evolve Pikachu into Raichu. People hadn’t expected him to get far in the competition, but he made third place and got an interview on live TV. It had been great.

But now, lost deep in this strange forest, he was feeling sharply homesick. Every noise from the darkness caused him to tense. Especially a rustle in the undergrowth or the strange calls of Pokemon he’d never known to exist. As far as he was from the normal Route, would one of them be so wild that it would attack humans?

He really wished that he hadn’t come this far.

His two Pokemon were out with him, at least. Raichu was huddled against a log, warily eyeing the trees in case some vicious Venomoth came back to poison him. Charmeleon, on the other hand, was lazing blissfully by the fire he had helped create, as if they weren’t miles from known civilization with no idea of where to get out. After a bit, he turned to his teammate and said, “<Hey.>”

“<What?>” Raichu asked grumpily.

“<You know that sitcom show about that Ash guy? I bet his middle name is Otis.>”

He twitched his ears. “<Why’s that?>”

“<Because then his initials would spell out A-O.K.>”

The orange rodent groaned and shook his head. “<Why must you always make up those awful puns?>”

Charmeleon lifted his head up. “<Ooo, or maybe Otis is actually his first name! That means his initials would spell out Oak. Gasp, it’s a conspiracy! Ash is actually Oak’s grandson, not Gary!>”

“<What difference does that make?>”

“<Well it explains why Oak let him have first choice of a starter. But why is he hiding that information from everyone? Hmm, mysterrrious.>” He lay his head back down and swished his tail in the air. The flame at the end was glowing a calm orange-red, wavering as it moved from side to side.

“<Why are you even thinking about sitcoms? We’re completely lost here!>”

“<What else is there to think about?>”

“<Plenty, like how to get out, and how to keep the local Pokemon away. And watch how you wield that tail flame; I’m sort of glad we don’t have to worry about the nightly chill, but you’re making things really stuffy.>”

“<Am I? Sorry. I don’t notice unless it’s cold.>” He wrapped his tail around his body.

“<Just saying what on my mind, you know. And we’ll probably find a way out.>”

“<Probably? No foolish certainty, instead foolish uncertainty?>”

Charmeleon looked at his teammate curiously. “<What’s with the grumpy sarcasm?>”

“<Grrr, because I have to deal with you.>” He whacked the lizard on the snout with his right paw.

“<Ow, hey!>”

“Raichu, discharge into the ground,” their Trainer spoke up, noticing his Pokemon’s mood.

Instead of following the order, he tensed up. “<Why should I?>”

“Go do it.”

Growling again, he flicked his jagged tail, then jammed it into the ground. There was a brief crackle of electricity accompanied by an increased glow around his tail and the electrical sacs on his cheeks. Once the built up charge was gone, he took a few deep breaths. There was now a neat scorch mark in the ground from where his tail had been.

“You feel better?” the boy asked.

“<Yeah.>" He looked to Charmeleon. “<Sorry about that. Got too worked up.>”

“<No worries. You just needed to chill a bit. By the way, you can borrow my chill any time you like. If I get too cool, I’ll die of hypothermia. That’s why I don’t wear sunglasses.>”

“<You are so weird,>” Raichu replied, but this time with friendly sarcasm.

Their Trainer pulled a steaming spoon out of the soup. It was finally done. He sighed. “Wish my anxiety was that easy to get rid of.”

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

the charmeleon and the raichu were just like me, I get anooyed and have to calm myself down in wierd ways. I also have a very wierd and great sense of humor. I notice all those little things(most of the time).

Oh my jesus, I've been on this site for a year already...
I think I deserve gifts. Like pie.

Ha I love that Charmeleon! Great puns too, by the way. I'm guessing someone was in a random mood while writing this one =p excellent stuff. Nice way of calming down the Raichu too, need I say original?

Short, but with light humor in it. That's a good style right there. Though slipping in Ash's name as a way to make weird puns made it very, very strange. ("Otis", why is that name so funny xD? Reminds me of my little "Otis the Oven Mitt" I did years ago.) The "A-O.K" got to me.

“<No worries. You just needed to chill a bit. By the way, you can borrow my chill any time you like. If I get too cool, I’ll die of hypothermia. That’s why I don’t wear sunglasses.>”

When I was first playing Ruby and saw Whismur, I thought it was kinda cute. When I caught it and read the Pokedex description though... geez, that sounds like it could be describing me... spooky. But then Whismur and its evos don't get mentioned much, and since it's weirdly like me, I feel compelled to stick up for the little guy. That's why it's my avatar and the one I name if I'm forced to pick one favorite.

And I love the move Uproar.

In Process: Kingler
On Deck: Cubone, Lucario
Reserve: Rotom (10/31)

WHISMUR
Ruby entry: Normally, Whismur's voice is very quiet - it is barely audible even if one is paying close attention. However, if this Pokemon senses danger, it starts crying at an earsplitting volume.

The girl ran up the stairs to the entrance of the library, gripping her umbrella tightly against the strong wind and rain. Two Pokemon followed her, one flying and the other hopping. Passing by the twin Ninetails statues, they made it to the sheltered entryway. She shook out her umbrella. “Hah, ‘Beware of sudden downpours’. Yeah, that radio DJ wasn’t kidding.”

“Rain, rain, go away,” the Chatot chattered, landing on her shoulder.

On the ground, the Whismur shook her large ears, then looked out at the rain.

She pricked her ears up and replied, but it was difficult to hear her over the rain.

“Let me dry you off.” She brought out a towel and patted the pink Pokemon’s feet until she wasn’t leaving footprints behind. Then they went inside.

The library was quite popular today, probably because of the rain outside. It was mostly humans inside, although a few Pokemon who know how to keep quiet and weren’t Fire types were following their Trainers around. There were three floors above ground and two basements below, according to a building map by the entrance. It was a warm inviting place, with reading stations scattered throughout the stacks.

But her purpose wasn’t with the books today. She went up to the front desk and quietly asked, “Excuse me, but may I use the Pokedex Database?”

The librarian nodded. “Sure, if you’ll just sign in at the desk there; those computers are in that room over there.”

“Okay, thanks.”

A few other Trainers were in the room as well, looking up information on their Pokemon or doing what she planned to do: skimming around for potential new ones that would help out. The online encyclopedia was immensely helpful, with anything from basic identification to advisories on training methods. Already, she had been saved a lot of headache and money by checking out one new catch, a Beldum, and learning that it was a more difficult Pokemon than she wanted to deal with. It was easier on both her and the Beldum, then, that she released him early.

First, though... she glanced down at Whismur. “You want to see what it says about you?”

“Wuh?” she replied softly. Due to the quiet of the library, she could actually hear her now.

“We’ll see what the experts have to say about your kind.” She logged into the Pokedex by scanning her ID card against the reader.

When it gave her a list of options, she chose the ‘Regional’ listing. The screen immediately brought up a dialogue box. ‘The Regional Pokedex for the Sea of Jasper and surrounding communities is known to be incomplete. We have entries for many common types for most areas, but a few places have yet to be explored and some rarer types are known to exist. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you wish to assist complete the Jasper Regional Pokedex, please contact the Coral Port Pokemon Lab.’

She frowned. “Wish I could,” she muttered, “but those mobile units are so expensive and hard to get a hold of.”

Whismur made a warbling question noise.

“Besides, the places they probably don’t have information on are hard to access.”

She waited for the list to upload, then searched for Whismur. It came up with a long entry, filled with preferred habitats, diet, known moves, general descriptions, evolution information, links to news stories, links to other regional entries on Whismur, and various pieces of advice. This species wasn’t one they were having trouble getting information on.

The Trainer put her hand to her chin. “Hmm, so you have a natural three-stage evolution, that’s good. And... each of your evolutions gets louder. Hoo boy. I will need to pick up some earplugs.”

Whismur moved her ears in front of her face and warbled bashfully.

She read on about her new Pokemon’s first stage. “This is interesting. ‘Whismur breathes through its ears as well as its nose. This unique physiology leads to its ability to sustain constant cries; the longest recorded cry on record goes on for two hours. Unfortunately, this arrangement also limits the Pokemon’s ability to judge just how loudly it is crying. This is why Whismur and its evolutions are known both for their extreme quiet and for their ability to match the noise level of a jet engine. They can be calmed down if their ears are covered, though, for then the vibrations will be felt and they quiet down immediately.’ I’d better remember that.”

The Pokemon responded softly.

She looked at her. “I wonder if it works in reverse.” She leaned over and gently pressed her hands on Whismur’s ears. “Will you speak up now?”

At first, she was again quiet. She blinked, then spoke in conversational tones, “Whi mu. Whe?” She seemed to be wondering why her ears were being held closed.

The girl released her hold. “Some of you Pokemon are so odd. Anyhow, we came to look up what Water Pokemon I want to aim for. This could take a while, though. There’s so many of them.” She turned back to the Pokedex Database and began searching.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

xD That last line of Chatot's was random. Oh, I wish I had Diamond/Pearl, now.

She looked at her. “I wonder if it works in reverse.” She leaned over and gently pressed her hands on Whismur’s ears. “Will you speak up now?”

At first, she was again quiet. She blinked, then spoke in conversational tones, “Whi mu. Whe?” She seemed to be wondering why her ears were being held closed.

The girl released her hold. “Some of you Pokemon are so odd. Anyhow, we came to look up what Water Pokemon I want to aim for. This could take a while, though. There’s so many of them.” She turned back to the Pokedex Database and began searching.

Cuteness! Whimsur ARE odd!

I missed this Saturday because 1) I slept in and 2) I never got on yesterday because of Conference. And also because I was behind on a story, and tried to finish it to update it, but never did.

But on that note, I liked this little one. I never really thought Whismur WERE that quiet. Maybe it's because I don't pay attention to PokéDex entries. Heh x3.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! The Kingler story is on hold for now. There's one particular bit in it that I don't like, so I need a couple more days to iron that out. But while I was stalled on that, I wrote this one for Cubone.

If there's a discussion on oddities or mysteries of Pokemon, the Cubone and Marowak Pokedex entries always come up. And it is pretty odd; the R/S/E entries state that Cubone evolves when it overcomes depression after it's mother's death. But surely, not every Marowak mother dies.

I figure that it's one specific instance that's become famous as an anti-poaching story, like how Smokey the Bear became famous for preventing wildfires.

CUBONE
Fire Red entry: It wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. When it becomes lonesome, it is said to cry loudly.

MAROWAK
Fire Red entry: It is small and was originally very weak. Its temperament turned ferocious when it began using bones.

She froze at the sound of footsteps. Gravel tumbled along the narrow path outside the tiny cave she had taken refuge in. “So what exactly do people want ‘em for? Skulls and bones, ugh.”

Her egg quivered. The Marowak wrapped her arms around it, to keep it from making noise. With it still, they might not be discovered.

“Rich people fancy bones,” another voice said. “That, and their skulls are said to have magical defensive qualities, if you believe in that kind of voodoo. And those bone clubs they have, sometimes it’s especially strong and thick. Trainers would kill to replace their Marowak’s regular club with a Thick Club.”

“Still strikes me as creepy.” The voices were trailing away. Leaving?

It seemed so. The Marowak released her egg, then went back to loosening her skull piece. Her kind had partial exoskeletons, as bone grew out over their heads and alongside their arms. The extra arm bone would eventually break away, allowing them to use it as a weapon. She had two such clubs, both lying on the ground. A third was just starting to grow off her right arm, but it wouldn’t be ready for several weeks.

The skull piece shifted back and forth until it fully snapped off. The tension between her conflicting instincts rose again. The new skull piece underneath was soft; she had technically pulled off the old one too early, earning her a dull ache around her head. However, her maternal instincts had grown loud, as they always did when one of her eggs was in process of hatching. Her instructions for being a mother told her to take the skull piece off before the baby was born.

The maternal instincts won, as always. She slipped off the helmet and waited.

The cracks on the egg spread, but it was a slow process. Eventually, the shell could withstand no more and broke into five pieces. The baby Cubone toppled over, causing one of the shell fragments to slip towards his skin...

The Marowak caught the wayward egg shell, having anticipated that it could happen. She moved the shell pieces away from her child. He looked similar to her, only shorter, stubbier, and stockier. But he lacked the ability to grow an exoskeleton, and would never be able to until he evolved into a Marowak too. His head was round and smooth, but as soft as fruit. It was easy for a Cubone to suffer a head injury and die.

To prevent that, the Marowak stuck her old skull piece onto his head. Then she told him the first thing her mother had told her, and the first thing her grandmother had told her mother, which every Cubone and Marowak had heard in generations of their kind. “<Trust in my bones and they will protect you. Leave that bone on until your own can grow underneath.>”

The Cubone got up and looked at her through the eye sockets of her old skull. “<Mother... yes mother.>”

She picked up the newer club bone from the ground and handed it to him. “<This bone shall be feared by your enemies. Take care of it until you have your own, and it will take care of you.>”

“<Yes, mother.>”

With that ritual done, she smiled and could have said something more. But then the voices from before returned. “I’ve found two of them!”

“Great, now get the Pokemon this time.”

The man smiled greedily at them. He wore a peculiar outfit of tight black pants and shirt, the latter of which had a giant red ‘R’ on it. The Marowak knew them to be trouble; they had harassed her for over a year now, trying to steal her from her home. But she knew how to escape those spherical machines they kept throwing at her.

She picked up her old bone club. While they were strong, the bone couldn’t hold up forever, and this one was starting to show signs of wear. But it was important for her child to have a stronger club to protect himself with. “<It seems I must show you this before I meant to.>”

The Cubone was understandably afraid, as he was only minutes old yet watching his mother prepare for battle. “<What’s going on?”

“<These people are cruel. Don’t let them touch you.>”

The Marowak rushed forward and struck the man in the knee. Yelping in pain, the man kicked her into the hard rock walls. Normally, she would have been fine, but her new skull piece was too soft for protection. The shock of hitting the hard wall with her soft head killed her.

The Cubone was terrified. Although he was newly hatched, he knew some things through the memory of his specie, one of which was that she was supposed to take care of him for a few months until he was ready to be on his own. She was supposed to teach him how to fight and look for food. Now that she was gone, he wasn’t sure what to do.

Trust in my bones and they will protect you.

The ‘R’ man had stumbled back to check on his knee. Seeing an obvious chance, the Cubone jumped up and smashed his bone club into the man’s head. He grabbed hold of the shirt’s collar and yanked, ripping it right off. His mother’s murderer seemed more vulnerable than he was now.

“Ah ****!” the man shouted, scrambling away. “Mad Pokemon!”

“What’s going on over there?” the second man shouted.

“It’s gonna kill me!” He ran off. After a moment of consideration, his partner chased after him.

Trembling, the Cubone looked around at the rocky mountain pass. So he could fight... but what about everything else? For a second, he saw a large snake made of rocks that somehow floated through the air. What was that? Friend or foe? What should he do? There was so much he didn’t know, and everything he saw was another mystery.

He went to his mother’s body and crouched by her. “<Mother... what should I do?>” He began crying.

A few minutes later, an old man came down the mountain path. The Cubone felt conflicted: should he escape or should he stay by his mother? But there was something to this human, something different from the ‘R’ man. He had a calming presence and the Cubone somehow knew that this man would not hurt him.

The old man looked over the scene: the Pokemon by his mother’s body, the white egg shell fragments, the torn ‘R’ shirt, and the flecks of blood on the Cubone’s club. He seemed to understand its meaning, but wasn’t afraid of the young Pokemon. Instead, he came closer to make sure the Marowak was dead.

“It’s a terrible sacrifice for love,” he said in a soothing voice. “You need not fear me, child.”

“<I don’t know what to do,>” the Cubone said, then hiccuped from crying.

“My name is Mr. Fuji. Why don’t you come with me?” He gently picked up the Marowak’s body. “We’ll see to it that she rests safely in peace.”

The Cubone quietly followed.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

Yay for Mr. Fuji cameo!
Otherwise, that was a sad one =( poor Marowak... Grr Team Rocket must die >:O I liked the ritual you created, it was very believable, and also the growing of the bone clubs. A good way of looking at it. Well written as expected, and I'm looking forward to the Kingler one.

Aww, the poor Cubone. *huggles* I'm sure it doesn't happen to ALL Marowak mothers, but that at least explains where the restless ghost came from. (Ah, it was restless because it knew the same Team Rocket grunts were in the Tower. Mystery solved!) You sure thoughts these up well ad with thought!

You know... you never explained what the underneath of a Cubone's skull from its mother actually LOOKED like, just that it was too soft to be exposed. WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE?! *freaks*

*slapped, but still wobbly* Okay... anyhoo... nice one-shot! You caught the two's emotions and actions well. I liked the rituals. Can't wait for Kingler! *falls over*